Mark Hammil joins medieval drama show Knightfall

From Jedi Knight to the Knights Templar, History has officially signed their latest star!

Knightfall is to swords what Star Wars is to lightsabres, which makes it fitting for Mark Hammil, aka the original Luke Skywalker to be joining the Knightfall cast for season 2, alongside topliner Tom Cullen (Landry) and Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter (Pope Boniface VIII).

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Set in medieval Britain and France, Knightfall is a brutal portrayal of the Knights Templar on the trail for the Holy Grail – the chalice reportedly drank from by Jesus, and in the latest season they are joined by Talus (Hammil), a veteran crusader who spent 10 years in captivity and who is now training cadets.

Donning monk-like robes for his new role that wouldn’t look out of place on Tatooine, Hammil is welcomed by the History channel. Eli Lehrer, History's executive vice president of programming is keen to promote the second season and infers it will be taking the series to even more brutal places; "We look forward to offering our viewers a grittier, darker 'Knightfall' in season 2 and welcoming Mark to the cast," he said.

But, family man and father of two, 66-year-old Hammil isn’t one for the spotlight.

“I live in a sort of insular world. It's mostly my family, my house, staying home and working,” he says.

So how does he manage to play people from times so long ago and galaxies so far away?

“Character roles only indicate that they're very different from who you are as a person, and for me, it's fun hiding behind characters that are so unlike who I am.”

Hannah HempenstallHannah Hempenstall is a writer, life coach and meditation practitioner based in the Byron Shire. She loves the art of storytelling and is obsessed with understanding human behaviour.